Saturday, July 8, 1944.

The Saturday Evening Post featured a clown on the cover, a really unfortunate piece of artwork given the horrific circus fire earlier in the week.

Thursday, July 6, 1944. Advances on Eastern Front, Halted on Western Front, Tragedy in Connecticut, Racism at Camp Hood.

The disputed photograph which is likely of Ellis Underwood may have been taken on this date:

Tuesday, June 27, 1944. Angelo Klonis or Thomas E. Underwood?

British and Canadian forces launched Operation Charnwood which sought to at least partially capture Caen. Heavy RAF raids on the city are launched as part of the offensive.

German machine gun crew killed in action by U.S. troops in Normandy on this day.

The SS began to remove the Jewish population of Kovno to Stufthof and Dauchau in order to clear out the ghetto before it was liberated by the Red Army.

Admiral Takeo Takagi (高木 武雄) was killed on Saipan.

The U-243 was sunk by the RAAF in the Bay of Biscay.

Mass in the Ready Room of the USS Saginaw Bay (CVE 82), July 8, 1944.

Last edit:

Friday, July 7, 1944. Banzai.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, boats and ships, French Resistance Movements, Imperial Japanese Army, Infantry, Saipan, Vichy France

Wednesday, July 8, 1874. March West.

The North West Mounted Police, formed in 1873 in order to police the Canadian west, left Ft. Dufferin, Manitoba to deal with lawlessness around the trading post nicknamed Fort Whoop-Up, Alberta, and to establish additional posts.

The trek would become known as the March West.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 5, 1874. The Battle of Liberty Place.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, 1877, Compromise of 1877, It was because of the Civil War, Louisiana, Reconstruction

Friday, July 7, 1944. Banzai.

Soldier demonstrates correct firing position for M1 Garand

The largest "banzai charge" of the Second World War occured on this day, when 3,000 troops made a suicidal attack on U.S. Army positions, overrunning two battalions of the 27th Infantry Division.

The word "banzai" comes from the Japanese battle cry "tennōheika banzai" (天皇陛下万歳) "long live His Majesty the Emperor".

The Polish Home Army commenced Operation Ostra Brama, and armed up rising in Vilnius.  Vilnius had been hotly contested between Poland and Lithuania after World War One and was in pre World War Two Poland. Today, of course, it is the capital of Lithuania.

The Japanese destroyer Tamanani as sunk by the USS Mingo off of Mainila.

Georges Mandel, French resistance leader, was executed by hte Milice.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 6, 1944. Advances on Eastern Front, Halted on Western Front, Tragedy in Connecticut, Racism at Camp Hood.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Numfoor, Bretton Woods, Charles DeGaulle, Connecticut, Disaster, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Operation Bagration, Personalities, Poland, Racism, Saipan, The Holocaust, World War Two

Monday, July 7, 1924. The death of Calvin Coolidge, Jr.

Calvin Coolidge, Jr. died of blood poisoning from an infection on his foot, following having received a blister playing tennis a week earlier.

Philippine Scouts mutinied at Ft. William McKinley over being paid less than other U.S. troops.  The 23d Infantry Division had to put it down.  Gen. MacArthur subsequently sought to secure the troops a raise in pay, but was unsuccessful.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 6, 1924 Plutarco Elias Calles elected.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1930s, 1936, 1940s, 1941, Álvaro Obregón, Colorado, Cristero War, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Outer space, Plutarco Elías Calles, Socialism

Best Post of the week of June 30, 2024.

 The best post of the week of June 30, 2024

Friday, June 30, 1899. Safe passage for Spanish troops at Baler.

1955-59 GMC Pickup Truck.

AT-6's (SNJ's) from the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, Natrona County International Airport.

Saturday, July 1, 1944. Bretton Woods.

Thursday, July 2, 1874. The Black Hills Expedition Departs

Somehow, we sort of ended up back here.

Why can't Democrats get a clue?

Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 7. Undermined.

Saturday, July 4, 1874. The Bates Battle.

Friday, July 4, 1924. Hail Caesar

2024 Elections In Other Countries.

The 2024 Election, Part XX. The Debate Edition

Sunday, July 6, 1924 Plutarco Elias Calles elected.

Last edition:

The Best Posts of the Week of June 23, 2024.

Saturday, July 6, 1974. Live from Lake Wobegon.

Minnesota Public Radio broadcast the first episode of A Prairie Home Companion. It had an audience of only twelve.

Last edition:

Saturday, June 29, 1974. Art and politics.

Labels: 1970s, 1974, Argentina, Art, British Empire, Colonialism, Dancing, Diplomacy, French Empire, Mexico, New Hebrides, Richard Nixon

Thursday, July 6, 1944. Advances on Eastern Front, Halted on Western Front, Tragedy in Connecticut, Racism at Camp Hood.

Admiral Horthy ordered a halt to the deportation of Hungarian Jews, clearly seeing which way the war was going.  Hungary had not supported this policy initially, but upon being invaded by the Germans early in 1944 Jewish deportation commenced.

The Red Army took Kovel and Svir.

The Polish 3d Division took Osemo, Italy.

The U.S. Army took Namber airfield on Numfoor.

Allied progress was generally halted in Normandy.

De Gaulle arrived in Washington for talks on his administration and forces. Bretton Woods, of course, the boozy conference on post-war economics, was rolling on at the same time.

The tragic Hartford Circus Fire resulted in 167 deaths and 700 injuries in Hartford, Connecticut.  Up to 7,000 people when the tent caught fire, with the cause never being determined.

U. S. Army Lieutenant Jackie Robinson, stationed at Camp Hood, Texas, was instructed to move to a seat farther back in the back of an Army bus and refused, resulting in his court-martialed.  Army buses were not segregated.

Robinson had originally been an enlisted cavalryman who had been sent to OCS, and was now a cavalry officer serving in an armor unit.  His commander, Paul L. Bates, refused to authorize the prosecution whereupon he was transferred to another unit and then charged with multiple offenses, including public drunkenness even though Robinson did not drink.  He was tried in August 1944, and acquitted.

The delay caused by the trial prevented him from going overseas with his unit.  He was transferred to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, and served as an army athletics coach before being discharged in November 1944.

Council of war, Saipan, July 6, 1944.

Last edition:

Wednesday July 5, 1944. Third Army in Normandy.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of the Atlantic, boats and ships, Canadian Army, George S. Patton, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Overlord, Operation Windsor, U.S. Navy, World War Two

Sunday, July 6, 1924 Plutarco Elias Calles elected.

Plutarco Elias Calles of the Partido Laborista Mexicano won Mexico's presidential election with 84.1% of the vote.  Before the emergence of the PRI, which Calles founded, it was the labor party, a democratic socialist party, was the most powerful party in Mexico.

That Mexico, which had just endured a violent attempt at overthrowing the government, was able to successfully stage an election was a triumph of democracy, albeit a temporary one as the PRI would later lock the country up into being a one party state with the PRI as the official party.

Calles was a left wing figure who had come up as a general in the Mexican War.  A controversial figure, he's admired by some for his work on social and institutional changes in Mexico, and an attempt, albeit only partially successful, to reform a military then dominated by revolutionary generals who were a threat to the government itself.  His administration, however, attacked the Church which lead to the January 1, 1927 Catholic rebellion known as the Cristero War, arguably the last chapter of the Mexican Revolution, in which 200,000 Mexicans died and would ultimately bring about the reelection of Alvaro Obregón in 1928.  He was exiled to the United States in 1936 but returned in 1941 when the PRI was firmly in power.  By that time, closer to death, he had become a spiritualist.

The Johnstown Meteor fell to earth in Colorado and interrupted a nearby funeral.  It's only one of eleven such events that have been witnessed.

Johnstown is famous today for the Buc-ee's located there.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 5, 1924. Hitting a concrete wall.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Olympics, Art, baseball, Brazil, France, Germany, J. C. Leyendecker

Blog Mirror: WPR Politics Quiz: July 5, 2024

I scored 100%

WPR Politics Quiz: July 5, 2024

Wednesday July 5, 1944. Third Army in Normandy.

The Third Army's headquarters, George S. Patton in commanded, landed in Normandy.

It lacked troops for active operations, but those were coming. The decoy role Patton had played was over.

The US 7th Corps was experiencing mass casualties for very little ground while fighting towards Périers and La-Haye-du-Puits.  The 90th Infantry Division took Saint-Jores.

Canadian troops took the rest of the airport at Carpiquet, concluding Operation Windsor.

U-233 after being rammed by the USS Thomas.

The Allies sank the U-233, U-390 and the U-586.  The USS Skate sank the Japanese destroyer Usugumo.

Tuesday, July 4, 1944. Independence Day.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Numfoor, Battle of Vuosalmi, Canadian Army, Continuation War, Finnish Army, Operation Bagration, Operation Overlord, Operation Windsor, Paratroopers, Red Army, Saipan, World War Two

Saturday, July 5, 1924. Hitting a concrete wall.

Babe Ruth hit a wall during a game in Washington D.C. and was knocked out.

The opening ceremonies of the 1924 Olympics were held in France.

Germany was absent from the games as it had not been invited.

A revolution, which would ultimately fail, broke out in Brazil.

Last edition:

Friday, July 4, 1924. Hail Caesar

Labels: 1920s, 1924, actors and actresses, Calvin Coolidge, Election of 1924, Food, Mexico, Politics, Progressive Party

Sunday, July 5, 1874. The Battle of Liberty Place.

The Democratic-Conservative White League, a terrorist organization made up of Confederate veterans, attacked the racially integrated Republican Metropolitan Police and the state militia in New Orleans.  The police were defeated and the White League held the city for three days before Federal troops intervened.

Former Confederate general James Longstreet was taken captive by the White League when he tried to intervene to restore order.  Following Federal intervention the Democrats walked out of the legislature and Louisiana effectively had two legislatures claiming control of the state until 1877.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 4, 1874. The Bates Battle.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Army, Blog Mirror, cavalry, Frontier Wyoming, Indian Wars, Native Americans, Shoshone people, The Bates Battle, The Frontier West, Wyoming

Tuesday, July 4, 1944. Independence Day.

"Marine Private First Class Raymond Hubert, shakes a three-day accumulation of sand from his boondocker."  Saipan, July 4, 1944.

The U.S. Army in Normandy celebrated Independence Day with a massive, timed artillery barrage.  Progress in the hedgerow country, however, is slow, and US casualties were becoming severe.

The Canadian Army commenced Operation Windsor, designed to take Carpiquet, which by the end of the day, they did, save for the airfield.

The Red Army took Polotsk.

The Soviets commenced the Battle of Vuosalmi against Finnish positions, which they were having difficulty with.

A second parachute drop was made at Numfoor and took Kornasoren airfield with heavy casualties.

US Task Force 58 attacked Guam, Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima from the air.

The I-10 was sunk east of Saipan by the USS David W. Taylor and USS Riddle.

Last edition:

Monday, July 3, 1944. Airborne at Numfoor, Red Army in Minsk.

Labels: 1940s, 1941, 1944, Battle of Imphal, Battle of Numfoor, Clean Wehrmacht Myth, French Army, Operation Bagration, Operation Barbarossa, Paratroopers, Personalities, The roles of men and women, World War Two

Friday, July 4, 1924. Hail Caesar

Caesar Cardini, Italian restaurateur living in Tijuana, Mexico, created the first Caesar Salad in response to being unprepared for the huge number of booze seeking American tourists/border crossers in his restaurant for the July 4, weekend.

A new Progressive Party, unrelated to the one that collapsed a decade prior, nominated Robert M. LaFollette as its Presidential candidate.

It was President Coolidge's birthday.

Actress Eva Marie Saint was born.

She is living still.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 3, 1924. Linking electricity.

Labels: 1920s, 1921, 1924, 1940, 1940s, Army, Citizens Military Training Camps, Electrical Power, Herbert Hoover, Military, panoramic, technology